Many different types of syringes have been devised for delivering and injecting medicines. Pre-packaged, disposable syringes are now widely used because they are reliably hygienic, precisely dosed and generally more cost effective than traditional re-usable syringes.
Required storage space is an important feature of pre-packaged syringes. Smaller syringes are not only less expensive to ship, but they are also less expensive to store in inventory. This is especially important in hospitals and pharmacies, where storage space for medicines and medical devices is at a premium. This is even more important in pharmacies and hospitals that use automated prescription drug dispensers that robotically retrieve medicines from stored inventory, such as a Pyxis® dispenser system from CardinalHealth, Inc. In these systems, operational costs are directly related to the storage space required per dose. Thus, in these automated systems, reducing the storage space required by prescription drugs can reduce the cost of providing medicines to patients, and therefore, there is great incentive to minimize the physical size of disposable syringes dispensed through these systems.
Current syringe designs do not squarely address the increasingly important need for a low-cost syringe having reduced storage space requirements. Thus, an improved syringe embodying a design that reduces storage space is needed.